Report - Oxford City 4-1 Dulwich Hamlet

By Oxford City FC

Clinical City Earn First 2019 Home Win

Oxford City finally put on the show which fans had been waiting for as they confidently dispatched Dulwich Hamlet with a dominant 4-1 home win.

While the game had been billed as a potentially close encounter for all the wrong reasons – City had failed to win in six home League games whilst the visitors came in search of their first away win since the middle of October – the Hoops galloped into a 3-0 lead within 25 minutes.

Having seen his side battle difficult conditions to grind out a 1-0 win against East Thurrock last weekend, Mark Jones put a largely unchanged side out on a significantly more pleasant day for a football match. Goalkeeper Craig King was protected by central defenders Tarik Moore-Azille and Joe Oastler, and fullbacks Eddie Jones and Ryan Case. Josh Ashby and Reece Fleet controlled the centre of midfield, behind Brandon Thomas-Asante, whilst Kyran Wiltshire and Jack Self ran the wings – all in support of striker Kabby Tshimanga.

The Hoops started strongly and took just 12 minutes to break the deadlock – a swift passing move resulting in a sight of goal for Thomas-Asante and his composed left-footed finish easily beating Preston Edwards.

The visitors looked to reply immediately, but Luke Wanadio was denied a shot at goal by Jones' exceptional last-ditch tackle.

The Hoops have often been accused of failing to take their chances when dominating games, but their clinical side was on full display in this game. Another fast exchange of passes saw the ball at Tshimanga's feet and his perfectly timed through ball found Wiltshire with the time and space to slot home and double his side's lead.

Two became three very shortly after – Fleet was able to take control of the ball on the corner of the 6-yard box only to be felled before pulling the trigger. Tshimanga stood over the resulting penalty, driving the ball down the centre for his 20th league goal of the season.

With his side potentially on the edge of freefall, Dulwich boss Gavin Rose opted to revert to a more traditional 4-4-2 formation.

For a while at least, the change seemed to work as the visitors put together their first real spell of possession of the game. This, however, was quickly brought to an end by the award of a second penalty – this time for handball. Tshimanga stepped up once again and, despite a lengthy delay, left the 'keeper with absolutely no chance as he blasted the ball into the roof of the net.

The second half was a comparatively dull affair, the Hoops seeming to prioritise maintaining their clean sheet rather than extending their lead.

The half was at least punctuated by a lengthy delay when City stopper Craig King seemed to become tangled in his own net. Any hopes of the resulting damage causing an abandonment were, however, quickly quashed.

To their credit, Dulwich Hamlet continued to press for a goal and were duly rewarded in stoppage time - Dipo Akinyemi's giving the travelling fans something to celebrate with an excellent long-range effort in stoppage time.